Fog debut with flight havoc

Calcutta: The city witnessed its first major fog-related disruption of the season this morning, with delayed or cancelled flights and trains leaving thousands of passengers stranded for hours.
Twenty-five aircraft taking off from Calcutta airport were delayed by three to four hours on an average and three were cancelled. Two incoming flights were diverted to other cities. Several long-distance trains arrived late in Howrah and suburban trains too were hit late last night and early this morning.
Airport officials said takeoffs and landings stopped completely between 5.30am and 8.50, and the chain reaction caused delays through the day. No takeoffs or landings were scheduled between 2am and 5.30.
The Met office’s airport bureau said visibility began dropping early in the morning as fog enveloped the runway, falling to 50 metres around 5.30. Visibility improved to 400 metres around 8.45.
The category-II instrumental landing system (ILS), installed last year, can help flights operate only if visibility is 350 metres or above.
Emirates’ flight from Dubai was the first to land, at 8.50, after hovering for nearly an hour. IndiGo’s Delhi flight was the first to take off, at 9.20.
Three flights — JetLite’s to Dibrugarh, Air India’s to Imphal and Kingfisher’s to Bagdogra — were cancelled. Air India’s special Haj flight from Jeddah could not land at 8am, was diverted to Mumbai, and returned in the afternoon.
12/12/09 The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Dec 2009